| A few tips from current HBS Partners- |
| Moving Vans. You may need to get a permit to move in if you live off campus. Certain streets are very small, and you can’t bring a moving truck down them. Cambridge residents can reserve a space in front of their building for moving vans. This is highly recommended; ask your moving company if you need to do this or if they take care of it. The online permit application must be submitted 4 days prior to the move date. 617-349-4721 |
| For getting to Boston, we rented a Penske truck. They have the best prices because they have unlimited mileage. Two of my friends have used them as well to move and have not had any complaints. Oh, and if you live on campus, you can borrow a dolly from the housing office to unload your truck. And if you need some help moving things, a friend of ours recommended Boston Small Haul. Basically I couldn't lift my TV and couch without help, so we arranged for them to help us for like 20 or 30 minutes. The prices are pretty reasonable. You can email them at bostonsmallhaul@gmail.com or call at (617) 877-4945. |
| If you choose to move yourself and you live on campus, the parking attendant was really easy going about letting you park your truck right in front of SFP. If you need a dolly, you can borrow one from the moving office. But they are only open certain hours, so check when they are open and plan your move accordingly. You only need an ID to check out a dolly. When we moved in, there were not very many people moving in at the same time. I imagined trucks and trucks moving people in, but on the days we moved in, we were the only people. It could have just been that we moved in a few weeks before classes started, but it was a pretty easy move. |
Mass Pike
Get a Fast Lane pass! It will save lots of frustration driving on the Mass. Pike! |
| Carry a little sack of quarters in your car at all times for meter parking. |
| Read the signs carefully before parking. You will get a ticket. |
| I use yelp.com all the time. It’s a great resource for anything you need. People review stores, restaurants, doctors etc. |
| Boston Magazine, I recommend subscribing. Lots of neat articles about the area. |
| One thing that I wish I had brought with me was my bike. I donated it to charity before I left California thinking that I would never ride it out here because of the weather. I would have used it so much that I am thinking about buying one. There are tons of places to lock your bike on campus, and there are even storage garages on campus to lock your bikes up during the winter months. Many streets aren't that wide for bikes, but there is the bike path along the Charles that is great. |
I wish I had known about when I first got here is that Harvard Sq has a lot of fairs and events so keep an eye out for what’s going on - they are really entertaining.
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Typical Week For 1st Year Students
M/W/F- Students meet with their learning team around 7:30am. Classes start at 8:40 and finish at
11:40; they have a lunch break until 1:10 and finish the final class at 2:30pm. They have 3 classes and 3 cases on these days. Cases usually take about 2 hours per case to prepare.
T/TH- Students meet with their learning teams around 8am. Classes start at 8:40 and finish at 11:40am. They have two classes and two cases on these days. |
| RC means required curriculum (1st year students), EC means elective curriculum (2nd year students). |
| We found it really helpful for me to leave the house for a few hours every weekend so that he could focus on homework... and I can always kill 4 or 5 hours walking around a mall. |
| My husband would spend every afternoon in the library and come home at dinnertime. Saturday was our day. Sunday he would spend a few hours in the library mid-afternoon. |
| We struggled at first because my husband wanted to do everything and be everywhere. It takes most of the first month to get into a rhythm that works for both of you. |
| Advice for working partners: Don't worry about all of the events you are missing during the day. There are plenty of things that will come up on nights & weekends to meet people. |
| Live close to campus. We lived a few miles away and always had to drive in to school. We missed out on a lot the first year. Moving closer to school for our EC year was a great decision. |
| Your students will be very busy, and in the beginning there is an adjustment period while your student learns how to study via case method and you learn how to be a mom and an HBS partner. Build relationships with other moms; get involved, that will be your saving grace! HBS is a great place to meet people, enjoy being in a new city and all that it has to offer. |
Harvard ID Cards. If your student is in Analytics, you will both get your ID cards during Analytics registration in August; everyone else gets their Harvard ID card during registration in September. One thing that is kind of a gripe about HBS is that if you get here early, they won't let you use the gym or give you access to the buildings like Spangler or the Baker Library. I was able to talk my way into Baker Library without a card because I wanted to use their databases to do a job search. They have good references for companies that you are interviewing at. And they won't let you use Shad until classes start, which is a bummer because that is one thing I would have definitely used a lot when I got here because I had a lot of free time.
| You get a 15% discount at the HBS co-op (pronounced coop or co-op) but not at the Harvard Square co-op |
| Don't get too worked up or too stressed out about the overwhelming amount of things going on that first month. Just know you can't do it all, so don't even try. There will be so much going on, so you've just got to pick and choose what is the most important (like going to the Partners Club events). |
| Harvard useful website for all Harvard students and partners. |
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